There are a lot of important details and discussions here that would be lost in a single paragraph. For instance: - Many people think that things that indicate social status cost money (who thinks this, why do they think this, when it is and is not the case) - How education and occupation do, and do not, influence social class. - How our culture defines class in ways that we may not realize even exist. We're so immersed in culture, it's difficult to realize alternatives. - She explores inter-class relations, and how the perception of class differs around the world.

I mean, those are just a few things I ran through and picked up near the beginning. I found the article extremely easy to read, and appreciated some of the subtle details in the writing that drove the point home. Is any type of long form writing on a subject pretension, or what would you prefer?